Album Review: Crash by Charli XCX

Fearlessly tackling a spectrum of gritty, experimental instrumentals, the Cambridge-born singer has grown accustomed to having her vocals warped, skewered and scattered over everything from trilled hi-hats and ricocheting breakbeats to ghoulish harsh noise, with no sounds off-limits. Sure, her relationship with commercial music has coexisted alongside these leftfield explorations, but it's her outings alongside the likes of PC Music head honcho A. G.

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Occupies a completely different space with joyous music that flits between normativity and hall-of-mirrors-style subversion One wonders what George Michael's reaction would have been if, in 1993, he had found out he could release Listen Without Prejudice Vol 2 and anything else he chose, as long as it was officially labelled a 'mixtape'. Lots of Charli XCX's most celebrated music in the past few years has been outside the remit of her five-album contract with Atlantic Records, which is coming to an end with the release of this Ballardian record, and it is a kind of victory for her that pop music during this time period has become decidedly weirder. As such, Crash features a mostly conventional pop ensemble of writers and producers (Rami, Ian Kirkpatrick, Oscar Holter) but mostly avoids sounding like a compromise.

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If art's ultimate purpose is to either generate empathy between estranged demographics or provide a reflection of the culture from which it springs, then English singer/songwriter Charlotte Emma Aitchison's intriguing fifth studio album--the final in her contract with Atlantic--undoubtedly accomplishes the latter. Part bold artistic statement, part satire of indulgence and celebrity in the age of hyperrealism, the aptly-titled Crash has not only become an object of critical intrigue but also succeeded in polarizing listeners prior to being released. Better known by her stage name Charli XCX, Aitchison leaves her intentions on full display in the album's title and artwork, as well as her reference to director David Cronenberg's 1983-released body horror classic Videodrome.

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It's here! Five months, some mild Twitter beef and a surprisingly late-in-the-game (for a Charli XCX album, anyway) leak later, CRASH has finally careened out of the garage. The rollout for Charli's fifth and last full-length record for Atlantic has been bumpy, defined by a surprising -- and vaguely worrisome -- level of hostility between fan and artist. So, was all the hubbub worth it? Now that it's arrived, where does CRASH leave us? Those who were disappointed by the record's sleek handful of singles can breathe a sigh of relief: CRASH is largely stronger than the sum of its disparate parts.

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moving backwards and forwards so the prevailing attitude regarding CRASH is that it is a major step down from charli's previous work. i don't blame anyone for thinking that, considering the first single was "good ones," a mediocre synthpop track produced by a mind behind "blinding lights" (another mediocre synthpop track) - seemingly with the goal, already failed, of hitting or coming close to the ridiculous commercial high of the latter track. "beg for you" was another track seemingly built on aping the success of another song, this time more literally as it heavily samples "cry for you," a far superior dance track.

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Nearly a decade on from her debut mixtape, Charli XCX continues to try and walk the tightrope between pop experimentation and the mainstream. She often worked with hyperpop pioneer SOPHIE and has a tendency to pivot towards the avant-garde when commercial success seems likely. She's practically disowned her most radio-friendly album, 2014's 'SUCKER', yet has also had a hand in 21st Century megahits 'Fancy', 'Senorita' and 'I Love It'.

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